ConversionTrackerService

[Zweitze]

Hi, I'm implementing some features offered by the ConversionTrackerService, and got stuck with the following questions:

1. What is the maximum length of ConversionTracker.name? A long time ago I measured a maximum length of 64 for a conversion type, but this service returned an entry with length 81. Note that this length is not listed in the AdWords API Limits page.
2. How can I get AdWords tracker ID? I mean the ID mentioned in the AdWords script on the site. I assumed that AdWordsConversionTracker.originalConversionTypeId got this ID, but its value is usually empty, and sometimes 0, 1, 2 or values like that.
3. When will ConversionTracker.Id be available in the performance reports, like CAMPAIGN_PERFORMANCE_REPORT, ADGROUP_PERFORMANCE_REPORT etc.? The problem is that those reports only offer the name of the conversiontype, but the name can be modified. Do you have any suggestions how to deal with the situation?
4. While 3) is not implemented, is it possible by the API to lock the names of conversion types? For instance a function like ConversionTrackerService.lock() that prevents editing a name until it is unlocked again?

Thanks in advance. Please note that the first question is now the most pressing.

[Josh Radcliff (AdWords API Team)]

Hi,

Please see my responses below in blue.

Thanks,

Josh, AdWords API Team

On Tuesday, December 30, 2014 6:18:04 AM UTC-5, Zweitze wrote:

Hi, I'm implementing some features offered by the ConversionTrackerService, and got stuck with the following questions:

1. What is the maximum length of ConversionTracker.name? A long time ago I measured a maximum length of 64 for a conversion type, but this service returned an entry with length 81. Note that this length is not listed in the AdWords API Limits page.

 

As far as I can tell, the current limit on conversion tracker name length is 100 characters, but that is subject to change.

 

2. How can I get AdWords tracker ID? I mean the ID mentioned in the AdWords script on the site. I assumed that AdWordsConversionTracker.originalConversionTypeId got this ID, but its value is usually empty, and sometimes 0, 1, 2 or values like that.

Are you referring to the account-level google_conversion_id in the conversion tracker snippet? If so, you can get that value from ConversionTrackerService provided you have an AdWordsConversionTracker in your account. You'll have to parse the returned snippet field to get the value, however.

If instead you are referring to the ConversionTypeId returned by some reports such as the ACCOUNT_PERFORMANCE_REPORT, you can use ConversionTrackerService to get your conversion trackers, including their IDs.

 

3. When will ConversionTracker.Id be available in the performance reports, like CAMPAIGN_PERFORMANCE_REPORT, ADGROUP_PERFORMANCE_REPORT etc.? The problem is that those reports only offer the name of the conversiontype, but the name can be modified. Do you have any suggestions how to deal with the situation?

 

I'm not aware of any plans to expose this field in other reports, but I will pass this suggestion on to the reporting team.

4. While 3) is not implemented, is it possible by the API to lock the names of conversion types? For instance a function like ConversionTrackerService.lock() that prevents editing a name until it is unlocked again?

This is not possible via the API. However, conversion names should be unique among user-defined conversion types so the name alone should suffice to identify the conversion type. If you need to find the ID that corresponds to a given name then you will have to use ConversionTrackerService to fetch the name/ID pairs.

[Zweitze]

Hi,

Thanks for the answers, and identifying the current max length.

I have one follow up question:

However, conversion names should be unique among user-defined conversion types so the name alone should suffice to identify the conversion type. If you need to find the ID that corresponds to a given name then you will have to use ConversionTrackerService to fetch the name/ID pairs.

Our database repeatedly went corrupt because users changed the conversion name. Nowadays we synchronize our database by deleting old data and obtaining everything again - I guess that is what you are suggesting. Still that doesn't work when a user changes the conversion name *during* the synchronization. We even saw instances where a conversion tracker was renamed twice with an hour - apparently the user made a typing mistake and changed again. In the mean we had corrupt data.
Do you know how I can get the past names of conversion trackers? As far as I can see, ConversionTrackerService only fetches the current name, not the names in the past.

Thanks in advance!

[Josh Radcliff (AdWords API Team)]

Hi,

Unfortunately, the API won't give you the history of names for conversions, and reports will only give you the current name for each conversion since the ConversionTypeName field is an Attribute field.

I think that the best you can do at this point would be to run the ACCOUNT_PERFORMANCE_REPORT periodically to get the latest ID -> name mapping for conversion types, and use that mapping when processing reporting data. This won't help, though, if users rename the conversion types in the middle of your sync process. I've been trying to come up with a solution for that issue, but so far I haven't had any luck.

Thanks,

Josh, AdWords API Team